Broken Watch is Right Twice in One Day
For once, I agree with Peter Arnett. I have been thinking about what is going on with the "bombing of Saddam", and I have what I think is a plausible explaination. Assume that Saddam is indeed still alive and this wasn't directed at another leader. Assume that we had valid intel that pointed to Saddam getting ready to go to this restruant.One of our over-arching goals is to take Baghdad as intact as possible. We know that when we corner Saddam, there is going to be a fierce fight, and it may even be a suicidal one where WMDs are involved. What we need to do is flush him out of Baghdad.
If we know that he is about to move, then we can use that to our advantage. Drop a bomb right before he gets there. You know what I would do if I was in that situation? I'd get the fuck out of dodge. The rumor was that he was about to flee to Tikrit; I think this might have been intended as a little shove to get him moving.
If it was our intent, we might have been a little more effective than we anticipated. There is an AP wire saying he is at the Russian embassy, but the Rusians are denying it.
Images of Liberation
I've been watching the fall of Baghdad. (I've had to watch CNN because I don't get Fox here at work.) This is an event that I will remember vivdly for a long time. I still remember the Berlin Wall falling. These images feel the same way. I will remember the statue in the Square. There was a crowd around it, and a man -- a strong man, heavily muscled -- brought a sledgehammer. I immediately thought back to the Berlin Wall, and I have to wonder if the sledgehammer will become the modern symbol of liberation. He took several swings, the crowd cheering louder on each swing.Then, he took the hammer, and he simply handed it to the man next to him, who was grasping for it. I had to leave at that time for work, and I think I missed what should be the image of the war. The scene was being described on the radio, and the announcer said that a boy, eight or ten, came up to take his swings. He was unable to lift the hammer; it was too heavy for him. One of the men stepped up and helped him swing the hammer. I hope that this image will be replayed so I can see it.
Their long supressed anger is an incredible rush for a lover of liberty like myself. I watched the Americans help the Iraqis pull the statue down, and then the Iraqis remove the head from the statue to drag it around the city. I am a little frightened by the viciousness with which the Iraqis strike at the statue, at any image of Saddam, from posters to statues to effigies, like a lynch mob -- but I understand it. I am thankful that I have never had an opportunity to build up that degree of hate.
The people of Iraq want to be free. The reports from the troops still fighting in the city is that they are not fighting Iraqis anymore. They are fighting Syrians, and Saudis, and Jordanians, and Egyptians. These are the people who hate America more than they want Iraqis to be free. The Iraqis will remember this, and so will America.
ArabNews: Another Day of Fire, Pain and Death
Or, Robert Fisk is Still an Idiot
BAGHDAD, 9 April 2003 -- Day 20 of America's war for the "liberation" of Iraq was another day of fire, pain and death. It started with an attack by two A-10 jets which danced in the air like acrobats, tipping on one wing, sliding down the sky to turn on another, and spraying burning phosphorus into the skies to mislead heat-seeking missiles before turning their cannons on a government ministry and plastering it with depleted uranium shells. The day ended in blood-streaked hospital corridors and with three foreign correspondents dead and five wounded.Actually, the A-10 fires both DU (depleted uranium) and HE (High Explosive) shells from the autocannon. Because there are few tanks in Baghdad, it is more than able to handle them with Hellfire missiles and save the cannon for soft targets. When strafing targets like lightly armored vehicles and buildings, HE is preferred. All of the informed reports I have seen say that the A-10s are being loaded with HE only (which only makes sense.)
The A-10s passed my bedroom window, so close I could see the cockpit perspex, with their trail of stars dripping from their wingtips, a magical, dangerous performance fit for any air show, however infernal its intent. But when they turned their DU shells -- intended for use against heavy armor -- against the already wrecked Iraqi Ministry for Planning, the effect was awesome. The A-10’s cannon-fire sounds like heavy wooden furniture being moved in an empty room, a kind of final groan, before the rounds hit their target.Not firing DU, Bob. Sorry.
When they did, the red-painted ministry -- a gaunt and sinister building beside the Jumhuriyah Bridge over the Tigris which I have always suspected to be an intelligence headquarters -- lit up with a thousand red and orange pin-points of light. From the building came a great and dense cloud of white smoke, much of which must have contained the aerosol DU spray that so many doctors and military veterans fear causes cancers. Then a set of F-18 jets swept so low over Baghdad that you could sense the confidence of their pilots. A single anti-aircraft missile soared into the gray skies, a bright red light moving at astonishing speed, but far too slow for the Americans jets.First, they aren't firing DU. What he is describing is the effects of an HE shell, not a DU penetrator. Also, DU does not aeresolize unless it hits a significant armor plate. It aeresolizes when you fire it through the front plate of a tank; if you fire it through a wall, then it stays intact due to its density. That density is why we use uranium.
In other words, Robert Fisk is still an idiot.
Research Group To Find Word That Actually Offends White People
Similarly, "redneck" is now used among white people, often with pride. "White people stole that one from us," complained rapper Dr. Dre, former member of the rap group NWA (Niggaz With Attitude). "That is just wrong of them to take the word we made to offend them and use it amongst themselves. It defeats the purpose. This nigga ain't down with that shit."
Kathleen Parker: Saving Private Lynch from an artificial legacy
No question about it: Jessica Lynch is a star, a darling young woman who deserves our hearts and admiration. But she is also something else that we fail to note at our peril - not a product of the feminist oligarchy, but the offspring of a traditional American family with a strong father and a big brother who says he'll probably tackle his sister when he sees her.In other words, there is nothing new about Private Lynch. She is just like every woman in my family -- a smart, savy woman.People who have grown up Southern and country with a father and brother don't need a screenwriter or gender-studies expert to explain how Jessica Lynch survived her ordeal. It had nothing to do with loins girded by feminist dogma. You can bet your satellite dish that Jessica has never studied "The Vagina Monologues" or gone in search of her inner goddess.
Outdoor girls like Jessica often know how to shoot a shotgun and bait their own fishhooks; they can locate water by studying treetops and know how to a tie tourniquet, as well as cut a cross in their own flesh to suck a snake's venom; they've been taught to tell on sight what's poisonous and what's not.
One can reasonably wager that Jessica Lynch can, too.
Having grown up under the tutelage of a brawny brother and an admiring father, she also probably knows how to read a man's eyes, knows when to fight and when to shut down. If she was brave and tough and determined, it is because she had a father who gave her those gifts, which only a father can provide. The same father, incidentally, that the feminist guard, now breast-beating around the ERA campfires, has tried determinedly to eradicate from the American home.This is something that I hadn't considered in the equasion, but I think it is a vital part. It makes sense. Without a healthy male and female role model, people tend to get screwed up. When they have healthy parent figures, then they get strong. Of course, I would chalk a lot of it up to the Appalachian stock that has served me so well.
Yes, Jessica Lynch took it like a man - or like a strong girl bred from good American stock. But she never wanted to be a soldier, only a kindergarten teacher. She saw the Army as a means to that end as well as a way out of her impoverished hometown.Hear, hear.While we might applaud her courage in leaving the familiarity of home for an unforeseeable future, we might not want to appropriate Lynch's resume as a recruiting vehicle. The military isn't and should never be construed as a ticket to college or just another career option.
As we have witnessed these past few weeks, it is a mean human machine designed primarily to take the lives of other human beings. If such is not one's taste or inclination - and I suspect they were never Jessica's - then a day job and night classes might be a better route.
Finally, on the matter of women's combat-worthiness, any visitor to the obstetrics ward knows that women are as tough as men. But an environment that puts women unwillingly at the disposal of men is never an argument for equality. It is quite vividly the opposite.
ArabNews: Exclusive: Vignettes of Liberation
There is no way we can forget that little child whose skull was ripped open. He lies on the ground serene in death while the upper part of his skull is open as if the explosion had occurred inside his brain. He is safe from explosions now; yet a nation suffers the legacy. He joins Mohammad Al-Durra, the other Arab child, who was similarly slaughtered by the same arms and the same manufacturers on the streets of Palestine hiding behind his father for protection.He may be more right than he knows; the majority of the children I have heard about being killed in Iraq have been killed by Iraqis, the same way the evidence points to Al-Durra was killed by other Arabs, and not the hated infidels.
A photo of elderly women, clad in their abaya or chador, spreading their hands and being frisked by a female US Marine, made the front page of every newspaper in the Arab world on Sunday. This is an image more devastating to an Arab than a corpse mutilated by merciless bombs. The dead are safe from further humiliation, but to handle our chador-clad women in view of the world is nothing short of outrageous. The only thing that was enslaved by the liberators in that scene was the dignity and humanity of these women. These women are our archetypal mothers.These women are the same ones who Saddam's men are sending to die in horror as unwilling suicide bombers while they are fat with unborn children. So you still want to talk about slavery?
Prisoners, very much according to the Geneva Convention I’m sure, were stripped in front of the cameras. They were handled with the utmost disregard to their dignity and their humanity. Any old sack lying about would do as a hood. The plastic that is used to tie their hands is of the most durable industrial type produced by the factories of Pennsylvania. The US cried foul when they thought their prisoners were mistreated, but nothing was heard from them or their media about such scenes played endlessly on screens across the world. The millions in the Arab world watching this do not need pundits to explain anything. The pictures are worth the volumes of all human learning.The bags are military issue sandbags, first. Second, there is a difference between someone being shackled with plastic ties and a wounded man being interrogated rather than treated. All wounded Iraqi POWs are being treated. The Iraqis left our POW on the table in pain.
Well-dressed politicians in London and Washington can try as hard as they want to convince us that it is all for our own good.You are a fool. It is not for your good, Saudi. It is to your detriment. It is for the good of the Iraqis you would rather have suffer under a madman than live free.
Dear Germany: Have you learned anything?
Few of us expected anything from the French. From the Jacobins and the guillotine, to the Dreyfus trial, to the Vichy regime, to de Gaulle's withdrawal from anti-communist NATO, France, with rare exceptions, has done little that is moral and nothing that is courageous. So the disdain that many Americans have long felt for France has merely been reinforced.But I think that I speak in the name of many Americans in saying that we expected more of you. Because of what we did for you after World War II and during the Cold War. Because you, of all people, know that Americans are a decent people. And especially because of your experience with evil. How could you have produced a Hitler and not recognize another one just one generation later? How could you know firsthand about torture chambers and children's screams and not ache to end them in another country? How could you side with amoral France against your friend America?
There is, it would seem, only one answer. Nazism taught you nothing. Instead of learning that evil must be fought, you learned that fighting is evil.
Arabs Appalled by U.S. Troops in Baghdad
This article made me feel bad. It disturbs me that the Arab street is so out of touch with reality. There is so much misplaced and twisted pride in these statements."How can we know this is for real and not just coalition propaganda?" the 30-year-old said. "We had hoped Saddam would inflict as many casualties on the invaders as possible to teach them a lesson and make them think twice before striking another Arab country."Iraq failed to put up a punishing defense, but that doesn't mean that we see this as a reason to start invading Arab countries. I think it says a lot about the cultural gap that I never even thought of it in this light. I assumed that attack is always a last resort, and assumed they would see it the same.
"As Arabs, we cannot see this and not move," said a man in his early 30s who would not give his name for fear of government retribution. "We are selling ourselves for a higher cost, for God, not for Saddam."This is another one that I have a hard time with. This statement seems to presuppose that God wants Saddam in charge, and that he wouldn't choose to send the Americans to do His will. It never seems to occur to them that God would use a non-Muslim to work His will.
In Lebanon, most citizens stayed close to their TV sets or radios to follow the news. Many refused to believe the reports, opting instead for Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf's version of events, in which he denied that Americans had entered the capital.Now this guy is truly stupid. There is no way anyone can believe this guy. He is the Black Knight from The Quest for the Holy Grail. "It's only a flesh wound!""Sahhaf said they were not yet in Baghdad, didn't you hear him?" said Hisham Moniyyeh, 27, who runs a currency exchange shop in the southern port city of Sidon. "The Americans have been lying a lot since the beginning of this campaign so I don't believe them."
Merhej Shamma, a 39-year-old Lebanese architect, was shocked at how easy it has been for the Americans to enter Baghdad. "I thought some of the fiercest fighting was supposed to take place in Baghdad. Where are the Republican Guards?" he asked.Keep hoping, Merhej. Better yet, hope that the Iraqi people don't waste the opportunity fate has handed them."I hope they are preparing for a counter attack that would turn the tables once again," he said.
Innocent kids killed by Hussein men
Barbaric members of Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party have tortured and killed dozens of innocent children leaving their tiny bodies hung from street lighting it has been claimed.Kids as young as four-years-old were taken from their parents during the night and murdered after extremists targeted families thought to have been aiding coalition forces.
Reuters Imitates Mel Brooks
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A travel ban imposed on Baghdad by Iraqi authorities would have no impact on the activities of U.S.-led military forces attacking the city, a Pentagon spokesman said on Sunday.Mmph. Hmph. Muwahahhaha!!!
"Awwwww, shit! The Saddam Tollway? What'll that asshole think of next?
"Anyone got a dime? Someone's gonna have to go back and get a shitload of dimes!"
New Zealand News - Dialogue - Robert Fisk: Reports of airport assault premature
This just in: Fisk's report of airport assault news being premature has been determined to be premature.IRAQI INFORMATION MINISTRY APOLOGIZES FOR STRING OF EMBARRASSING GOOFS
I'm waiting to see this one featured in the Best of the Web "Life imitates satire" section a few days from now.Defeats dismay Arab media
We are back to the "Are the Arabs really this stupid" question again. This one is great:Arab satellite news channels, broadcasting footage of advances by coalition forces on Baghdad, are beginning to question whether Saddam Hussein has put up a proper fight against the allied advances.Because he is dead?
Throughout the Arab world there is a mood of disappointment. The initial resistance by Saddam's forces raised expectations that he would put up a tougher fight around the capital.I bet it has something to do with him being dead."Why is he letting the Arabs down now," a Lebanese caller asked a phone-in programme, "when his forces fought so bravely in the south of the country?"
"Why didn't Saddam order all the bridges to be blown up along the route to the capital?" another studio guest wondered.What is, "Saddam is dead". Alex?
Several Arab newspapers highlight the discrepancy between Iraq's assessment of the war and that of the coalition forces. "The information war is intensifying," said al-Sharq in Qatar. In Jordan, al-Rai asked "where the real truth lies amid the confusion and contradiction of the news reports?" Nevertheless, on its front page the paper's main headline read: "Iraq retakes Saddam airport."And "at least someone thinks they are that stupid" pulls ahead by a nose.The Lebanese daily al-Nahar went one better, saying that "Saddam led the attack to retake the airport", while Akhbar al-Khaleej in Bahrain said: "We have wiped out the invading forces at the airport."
Jihad TV
Funny shit. Thanks to the grand poobah of blogs Little Green Footballs for pointing this one out to me.Yahoo! News - Nobel peace laureate Elie Wiesel says Iraq war justified
When a Nobel Peace Laureate -- and I mean a real one, not one awarded since the Nobel committee wiped thier ass with the prize by awarding it to the terrorist Yassir Arafat -- speaks out in favor of an invasion, there is a good chance that it is a just war. I have argued the legality of the war. I have argued the existence of WMDs in Iraq. I have argued congressional war powers approval. I have argued cease-fires. I have argued UN resolutions.All of that is distracting bullshit. This is a war about good and evil. Saddam Hussain is an evil tyrrant. The Iraqi people -- all people -- have a human right to live free of tyranny. If we free one Iraqi from freedom, then the entire operation is a success. We will free all Iraqis, and if we fail to do so, they will have no one to blame but themselves. European and Arab appeasers are not strong enough to thwart the awesome power of freedom.
Mideast peace activist shot - theage.com.au
You know, if you are a human shield, you should really expect to be taking some lumps. That is the reason for a human shield, right?Both Avery and Karlsson are members of the Palestinian-backed group International Solidarity Movement.They forgot to use the complete "international workers supporting international terrorists". From the ISM web siteMembers often insert themselves between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers to try to stop Israeli military operations.
"We had our hands up and we were wearing vests that clearly identified us as international workers when they began firing," Karlsson said.
As enshrined in international law and UN resolutions, we recognize the Palestinian right to resist Israeli violence and occupation via legitimate armed struggle.In other words, "we support Palestinian criminals who shoot civilians and conduct suicide bombings at weddings, pizza parlors and bus stops."
Back to the article:
The army said there were reports of homemade firebombs being thrown at troops and that it returned fire at gunmen in the area.There a really good chance that he was shot by the Palestinians. It wouldn't be the first time they that we have had to ask that question.The army, however, said it was not aware of hitting anyone.
An officer said that Palestinians were also shooting, and it was unclear whose bullet hit Avery.
ArabNews: Exclusive: US Military Police Are Acting as 'Censors' in This War
I read this article, waiting to see where he was actually "censored" by the Americans, but that wasn't what this article was about. It was about his startling revelation that being in a war-zone is dangerous. I'm crying him a fucking river.As darkness set in, we pulled over at a bullet-ridden rest stop. Inside, bullet holes let in the remnants of the setting sun. In one corner lay an Iraqi soldier’s dented helmet, and there were blood all over the wall. Below it was a thick pool of dried blood. It was my first exposure to lives lost as a result of this war.God help him if he had actually seen a body (other than an executed American POW on Al Jazeera, that is.)
NEA challenged on political outlays -- The Washington Times
I like to think of this situation as another illustration of what is wrong with income taxes in general, but what this is really about is fraud.Fraud is part of the heritage of the Democratic Party ("I'll vote Democratic until 25 years after I die!") and this is an extention of it. The NEA is a de facto DNC PAC, and this is a symptom of that symbiosis.
As The Gun Smokes
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. forces near Baghdad found a weapons cache of around 20 medium-range missiles equipped with potent chemical weapons, the U.S. news station National Public Radio reported on Monday.Of course, Kofi Annan is on record as saying that he is going to assume that any weapons found are US plants until the UN goes and finds them on their own.NPR, which attributed the report to a top official with the 1st Marine Division, said the rockets, BM-21 missiles, were equipped with sarin and mustard gas and were "ready to fire." It quoted the source as saying new U.S. intelligence data showed the chemicals were "not just trace elements."
